Workshop flooring

[Ollie78]

Cheap rubber matting is great. I have some from ebay it was £60 for 10 metre by 1 metre roll. One side is fine ribs the other a sort of cloth weave finish.
It reduces the slippyness of the painted chipboard floor I have. I put a big bit by every machine.

Basically the cheapest floor covering you will find.

Ollie

 

[Delwood]

You could use stable/cow matting. Rubber like, you can flip it over (ribbed one side and pimples the other). Not cheap but thick and durable

I have ribbed rubber mat and my advice would be to avoid it. It is only possible to sweep along the ribs so it is difficult to remove sawdust from under tables etc. without using a vacuum cleaner.

 

[plum60]

Looking for thoughts on laminate flooring over workshop osb base floor

Good or bad idea?

I put vinyl down on my van floor which works really well and could work well in a workshop. It sort of deadens a bit of noise, easy to clean. waterproof, if you drop any thing it doesn't tend to ruin the floor or the thing itself, it's not slippy. If you are going to use a man made material with toxins might as well use something that prob won't go to landfill for a long time unlike laminate.

 

[OldWood]

My old workshop had a concrete floor and in my relative youth that never bothered me, but a new workshop was built on retirement again with a concrete base and I found foam rubber mats in Costco that are 7mm thick, 600mm square and interlock.

I would strongly recommend these; inexpensive, comfortable, sweepable, no deterioration after 15 years and the only downsize is when you have a 'ping-f++k-it' the item bounces under the bench and you know what that means!! .

If they are in Costco they will be available elsewhere I'm sure.
Rob

 

[Inspector]

Be aware that if you use soft or thick rubber mats rolling any machines around on castors becomes difficult to impossible especially as the machines get heavier or the castors are of a small diameter.

Pete

 

[Jacob]

Plain chipboard is best. Good grip for the feet, soft landing if you drop a plane, cheap. Wears down with heavy use but see as consumable.
I made a mistake with mine and used up some Osmo oil and linseed oil left-overs. Made it too slippy but it's roughened up a bit now and is OK

 

[Ollie78]

I have ribbed rubber mat and my advice would be to avoid it. It is only possible to sweep along the ribs so it is difficult to remove sawdust from under tables etc. without using a vacuum cleaner.

This is a small problem, but I use a vacuum anyway.
I don't have it under the tables or machines, just in the walking or standing areas.
I think the benefits and low cost still make it a good choice, you could of course use it the other side up.

Ollie

 

[Stevekane]

Ive got a couple of childrens play mats that were in a skip, these seem to be the same stuff as garden kneeling pads, around 10mm thick and dovetail together, smooth one side and very slightly dimpled the other, around 600mm square, I chopped off the dovetails and just use a couple as kneeling workmats and they are great. I think these things come in packs of 6 or 8 from places like Asda and I would think they would be lovely to walk on. Perhaps not the toughest flooring but easy to throw down and probably very cheap.
My retired engineer chum had slatted duckboards in front of his lathe and bench, said it kept his feet off the cold floor and being just thin lathes it was springy too, I have to say it was comfortable to stand on.

 

[TRITON]

I'm using lino. Reasonably cheap, cushioning, and hardwearing.

 

[HIGHKIT]

One for and one against. Any more votes...

I used laminate from inside my house, it's brilliant, easy to clean and machine wheels fly over it.

 

[Nigel Taylor]

I have a ribbed rubbed on the floor, gives me good grip and keeps my feet a bit warmer in winter. Had it a few years and it appears to be quite hard wearing.

not sure the picture does it justice, but you can see a lot of fine aluminium swarf in the top left hand corner.

The only issue is I find you have to hoover it in the direction of the grooves.

 

[jim1950]

my workshop floor, well between the lathe and bench anyway is covered by a WW2 duck board from the bridge of a torpedo recovery vessel, note the three gear lever slots, not great stores a lot of wood chips but how could I get rid of that

 

[Terrytpot]

Many years ago I used to have a fairly regular collection from a place that made cattle shed/stable mats and I kick myself most days for only ever managing to blag two from them. They’re great for if you’re going to stand in the same spot for a long time but as I can’t wheel stuff past them they don’t get used much.

 

[Jim P]

I bought a thick rubber mat designed for horse stables - it is tough as anything and about 1/2 inch thick - it's been down years now with no ill effects.

 

[Blaidd-Drwg]

I also have a concrete floor and I'm getting some mats this weekend. I've already dropped a few things and broken most of them, so I want to get some protection down before I break something valuable, like a plane. I do like the concrete for rolling my benches and shelves around and it's easy to sweep up.